Wrongful death suit filed against Redding police for June 2012 fatal shooting

The family of a 19-year-old man shot and killed by Redding police last year has filed a wrongful death suit against the city, police Chief Rob Paoletti and the officers involved in the shooting.

The federal lawsuit, filed late last month, seeks unspecified damages for the alleged unlawful detainment, beating and fatal shooting of Scott Joseph Deen, who died from a gunshot wound to the chest after a "life-and-death" struggle with three police officers in the area of Canyon and Valley View roads in south Redding early June 22, 2012, investigators have said.

The complaint filed by Los Angeles-area attorney Vicki Sarmiento details a different version of the events surrounding the shooting than offered by police and prosecutors.

Law enforcement investigators believe Deen and two other men were siphoning gasoline from cars parked in the neighborhood off Highway 273 near Win-River Casino.

Officers used a stun gun at least twice on Deen after he came at them with a knife, according to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office, which handled the investigation into the shooting.

Not fazed by the stun gun, Deen tried to stab an officer with a knife that was attached to his hand with an elastic bandage before Cpl. Jon Poletski fired two rounds, striking Deen once, police have said.

Deen then ran away. Officers found him about 700 feet from where he was shot. He collapsed when he was caught and died after CPR was unsuccessful, police have said.

But Sarmiento in the complaint said police had no reason to detain or arrest Deen. The officers — Poletski, Jared Hebert and Robert Garnero — took Deen to the ground, kicked and kneed him, hit him with a stun gun and shot him in the back during the scuffle, according to the lawsuit.

"(Deen) did not verbally threaten, or physically strike or attempt to strike the officers or anyone else at any time," Sarmiento said in the lawsuit. "At the time of the use of force, including deadly force, (Deen) was unarmed and posed no imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to (police) or any other person."

Sarmiento also alleges the officers didn't immediately call for medical help for Deen after arresting him, which contributed to his death, and the city's policies and practices contributed to the officers' willfully disregarding Deen's constitutional rights.

The lawsuit also names officers Brian Berg, who handled a police dog during the incident, and Harry Bishop IV, who arrived after the shooting and also allegedly failed to seek timely medical treatment for Deen.

Police and prosecutors have said Deen had a warrant out for his arrest for sexual assault in Montana and was a known associate with a gang. The Shasta County District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting justified.

The lawsuit followed a December claim against the city that received no response, according to the complaint. A scheduling conference on the federal case is set for Dec. 12.

Sarmiento is seeking funeral and burial costs and punitive damages against police and the city for Deen's mother, Kimberly, and grandmother, Sharon Knifton.

Sarmiento in 2011 won a $4 million settlement against the city of Eureka in a wrongful death lawsuit filed after a man died in Humboldt County jail from injuries sustained fighting police, according to electronic court records.